Applications and Degradation of Proteins Used as Tissue Engineering Materials

Abstract

This article provides an up-to-date review on the applications of natural polymers, i.e., proteins, as materials for tissue engineering. Proteins are one of the important candidates for tissue engineering materials based on their superior biocompatibility, biodegradation, bioresorbability, and so on. However, their inferior mechanical properties limit their broad application. Currently-available proteins for application in tissue engineering or drug delivery systems, such as fibrin, collagen, zein, silk fibroin, keratin, casein and albumin, and the biodegradation of tissue-engineered substitutes based on proteins are presented. Techniques of scaffold fabrication are also mentioned. Problems and future possibilities for development of protein-based tissue-engineered substitutes are also introduced in this review.

Fabrication and characterization of electrospun zein/Ag nanocomposite mats for wound dressing applications

“…Zein is known to be both biocompatible and biodegradable plant protein that has been employed in development and fabrication of several films and substrates for biomedical applications [8,9]. It is a major protein of corn and it has been used in the food industry as a coating material.…”

Zein‐based composites in biomedical applications

“…Zein is a large protein which has an average molecular weight of 44 KDa that is found in maize endosperm and comprises 40–50% of total endosperm proteins . It comes from the protein group known as prolamines which are soluble in non‐aqueous environment, for example, in 60–95% alcohol and have conformational similarity with conventional globular proteins (that is, insulin and ribonuclease) . Zein is composed mainly of glutamine (21–26%), leucine (20%), proline (10%), and alanine (10%), which are nonpolar and uncharged amino acids .…”

Corneal Stromal Cell Growth on Gelatin/Chondroitin Sulfate Scaffolds Modified at Different NHS/EDC Molar Ratios

“…On the other hand, to develop corneal keratocyte scaffolds, the porous gelatin template was modified with CS by direct linking of the EDC-activated carboxylic acid groups of the polysaccharide molecules to the protein molecules [11]. In comparison with collagen, gelatin is cheaper and has relatively lower antigenicity while this material still contains cell adhesion sequences (RGD) for tissue engineering applications [12]. …”